My Experience as a Trimmer
Having the opportunity to work as a trimmer and getting my foot in the cannabis industry is something I am very grateful for. But as with any job, how good it is depends on the person you work for and the people you work with.
That being said though, some of my most fun memories in my 20s so far have been working in Humboldt county on an outdoor farm where I met some really incredible people. Some of whom I developed close friendships with and still stay in touch with to this day.
Trimming is not for everyone though. It can be very tedious and tiring. For some people it is very hard to sit or stand in the same place for hours at a time. In addition, when you’re trimming every day for months at a time you can easily get burned out if you’re not taking care of yourself. It’s important to know your limits, not to push yourself too hard, and to eat healthy.
One of my weaknesses as a trimmer was that I had the tendency to compare myself to others. If I was not having a great day, I would look to see how others were doing and would be extremely disappointed if they were far ahead of me. Sometimes you’ll be sitting there trimming tiny nugs that barely add to your weight and others will have trimmed two pounds already without breaking a sweat. Those days are tough, but you just have to keep working and keep the big picture in mind.
There are a lot of aspects though to trimming that make the work highly sought after for many people. I personally enjoyed the large amount of freedom that was available to me as a trimmer. I’ve never had a job trimming where there is a boss breathing down my neck and always on my case. There are usually no rules such as when you can take a break to do whatever you need. How one works is totally up to them.
I liked working on an outdoor farm way more than the dispensary in Los Angeles I worked at because there was almost nothing we couldn’t do. When I worked in Alderpoint on the outdoor farm we smoked as many joints in the trim room as we wanted, and could even crack open a beer if we felt so inclined. There was no designated time we had to start working; it was all up to us.
Another aspect of being in Humboldt county was being in a kind of no man's land. It felt like the wild west. It’s so open and free in this part of the country. Away from the hustle and bustle of the real world, Humboldt County is truly a place you can go if you want to feel totally free. My best season of trimming in Humboldt I came out with 10 grand in savings which was super awesome.
Working at a dispensary in LA was not this chill, though still a good job. We had to show up every morning at 9 AM, and we couldn’t just decide to take the day off if we didn't feel like working. It was more like a regular job in the case that you had to give notice prior to being absent. Also while I got along great with many of my co-workers, there was a lot of drama and tension at times. Of course, this is going to be likely to happen in such a big city such as Los Angeles.
While I worked there, issues continued to arise among the Americans and a group of Russians. It got to the point the tension was so much that it seemed like there were two teams: The Americans and the Russians.
Now, I’ve never cared about what country anyone is from. I genuinely appreciate diversity and love the opportunity to meet people from as many countries and cultures as possible. And I’m certainly not buying into the new red scare going on in America today where the media wants to convince us that Russia has hacked our democracy and we should fear the Russian government.
But back to the point. I think the issue here overall came down to a communication barrier. Many of the Russians could not speak English well, and this caused many problems during the days where we had to harvests and takedowns for the plants to prepare them to be trimmed. There were two teams of people working against each other instead of everyone just working together. It was pretty ridiculous though actually somewhat comical in hindsight. This is why I eventually put in my resignation.
There were still many cool aspects to trimming at the dispensary. We were paid $95 a pound and somedays I would be able to trim over 3 pounds which almost made me $300 in a day. With everything being accounted for, it was a good gig. I probably would have kept working there if it weren’t for the almost 3 hour round trip commute from Woodland Hills to downtown I had to make every day.
Conclusion
One of my favorite things about trimming was the perk of being able to listen to unlimited amounts of music. Podcasts were really nice also. You could find yourself in another world listening to cool stories all day, and before you knew it the day’s work would be over. It was also nice to be able to sit around all day and shoot the shit with others while you’re working.
As with any profession, trimming has its benefits, but also its sacrifices. In the end though it’s totally worth it and a fun way to spend your time while you’re making some money. While it can be hard to find work, it’s worth the effort.
